# Rayquaza Forum



## master_c (Aug 7, 2008)

The forum website is http://rayquaza.forum-motion.com/index.htm

Unlike many other pokemon forums, we have gym leaders and elite 4, hold regular tournaments, offer an EV training service and have a great community which gets along and is always willing to help with pokemon or item trades. 

We have almost 150 members on the site which has been up and running for around 4 months but now we're trying to expand a little more so that we can have more frequent tournaments and perhaps fill our 2 vacant gym leader spots and elite 4 place. 

So whether its battling, tournaments, trades, items or EV training you're after, register now! Advice welcomed also.


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## 619 (Aug 7, 2008)

Wow this site is amazing!!I joined it and its fantastic!!theres alot of people you can battle or trade with or just simply chat on the CB.I recommend you join you will like it there.


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## Jeremy (Aug 8, 2008)

Are you talking about THAT site?! That site is awesssooommmmeee! I mean it! I love the battling and trading and...Well, everything! That place is the bomb, dude! It's wicked awesome!


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## Rayquaza (Aug 8, 2008)

I saw the title and thought ":D Forum about MEEE?"
But sadly I am mistaken.
Oh well it's still cool. :)


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## Jeremy (Aug 8, 2008)

Rayquaza said:


> I saw the title and thought ":D Forum about MEEE?"
> But sadly I am mistaken.
> Oh well it's still cool. :)


XD

Edit: Taken something back that I shouldn't have said. *Apologize*


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## Zeph (Aug 8, 2008)

*Headdesk*

Jeremy, that's what this board is _for_ - critiquing and commenting on advertised sites.


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## Jeremy (Aug 8, 2008)

Fine. I'm sorry. I am what some of you people may call...A "noob". And besides, it's just me. Even if it's not my website...I still hate being critiqued. I can't help it. Please accept my apology.


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## Zeph (Aug 8, 2008)

Apology accepted. We were all new at some point. But it does quite clearly say 'Link to your website or forums here and get feedback, attention and *criticism*.'


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## master_c (Aug 8, 2008)

Tiggy said:


> It looks _*tacky*_ in my opinion. Green font on a green background = oh god i cant see
> 
> From what I see, there isn't a website to go with the forums. I'm afraid your forum isn't going to expand much without one. Stand alone forums usually die off  anyways.


Thanks for the advice there, we're currently working on a way in which our members can choose out of 3 backgrounds/styles (much like this site). Many of our members like our green font on green background as green is the colour scheme at the moment. 

I'm not after the forum to expand to extravagant lengths, I'm only after enough new members that we can have more frequent tournaments etc, fill our spare elite 4 and gym leader places and not too many members that theres no longer a small enough community where everyone gets along and knows each other. As for the forum dying, we have been expanding so far for about 4 months now so I can't see it dying off.


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## Furretsu (Aug 8, 2008)

Is there a reason we should care about your Pokémon forum when - if you haven't noticed - we're already members of at least one?


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## master_c (Aug 8, 2008)

AuroraKing said:


> Is there a reason we should care about your Pokémon forum when - if you haven't noticed - we're already members of at least one?


Yes, beacuse - if you haven't noticed - I posted many features which Rayquaza Forum holds which many pokemon forums do not.


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## Furretsu (Aug 8, 2008)

> we have gym leaders and elite 4, hold regular tournaments


this is definitely not original or uncommon; this very forum has the same thing



> offer an EV training service


this is unique I guess



> and have a great community which gets along and is always willing to help with pokemon or item trades.


eh

not to mention the design is unappealing (read: ugly), your grammar (or whoever wrote the majority of forum descriptions) is atrocious, and standalone forums with nothing new to bring to the table are _uninteresting
_


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## master_c (Aug 8, 2008)

Never underestimate a community where everyone gets along. Its a great feature that is under-rated. No matter what time of day I go onto the site, I find a group of members online at the same time, that I know well, that I can talk to and get along with. When forums get too big, they lose their community. 

Also, we now post some regular pokemon updates, post pokemon tutorial videos/strategies, help people with their teams (and there's another thing - having someone you know well and respect as a battler help you with your pokemon/movesets - something you only get with a community thats small enough to get along and where everyone knows everyone else).

I'd also like to receive advice/criticism, not just _your_ opinion...


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## Faltzer (Aug 8, 2008)

The text on the banner is a bit too plain. The banner doesn't really go with the forum theme.  The entire theme looks sorta out of place on the top part, and the forum listing is pretty OK.

I can't put my finger on it, though your theme is just lacking something to make it feel natural.


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## Jeremy (Aug 9, 2008)

Faltzer said:


> The text on the banner is a bit too plain. The banner doesn't really go with the forum theme.  The entire theme looks sorta out of place on the top part, and the forum listing is pretty OK.
> 
> I can't put my finger on it, though your theme is just lacking something to make it feel natural.



Well that's about the friendliest criticism I have heard yet. As for others, pointing out the pros and cons of the site is part of criticism, no? So why don't you share the pros. Nobody likes to hear 100% negative feedback.


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## Furretsu (Aug 9, 2008)

Jeremy said:


> Well that's about the friendliest criticism I have heard yet. As for others, pointing out the pros and cons of the site is part of criticism, no? So why don't you share the pros. Nobody likes to hear 100% negative feedback.


Because there is absolutely nothing positive for me to say about this forum.



> I'd also like to receive advice/criticism, not just _your_ opinion...


What?


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## Adriane (Aug 9, 2008)

You've got a good basis, you've just got a lot of cleanup work to do in terms of presentation. Grammar, style, imagery, etc. are what people notice first and can easily turn people away before they even start to browse a forum. How you present yourself is also key.


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## 619 (Aug 9, 2008)

AuroraKing said:


> Is there a reason we should care about your Pokémon forum when - if you haven't noticed - we're already members of at least one?


wow i guess you probably go around saying this to all the people that are advertising.Fist of all, if you got nothing good to say, unless your trying to give advice,dont say it at all.Like jeremy said,nobody likes to hear 100% negative feedback.Second,Master_c is advertising,isnt that what this forum is about?So why start an argument saying,"Why should we care-if you havent noticed-were already members of one"?


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## OrangeAipom (Aug 9, 2008)

I don't know. Maybe because the argument got the members here.

Nice tactic, Aurora. I would of never thought of it.

By the way, criticism always has opinions. Otherwise, it'd just be a listing of facts.


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## master_c (Aug 9, 2008)

AuroraKing said:


> Because there is absolutely nothing positive for me to say about this forum.


This is an opinion which certinately isn't needed here. How can that line be interpreted as advice/criticism which can be worked upon to improve the site I'm advertising?




AuroraKing said:


> not to mention the design is unappealing (read: ugly)


This is another example of an opinion... rather than just saying its ''unappealing'', why don't you actually expand on that and say _*how*_ the design could be improved? You know, like give _*advice*_...


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## Faltzer (Aug 9, 2008)

I'm usually much harder on my criticism when there is a lot to look at, actually. I don't have much time to look thoroughly at your forums inside out to be able to pick at flaws, so that's the best I can offer right now. :/


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## Furretsu (Aug 9, 2008)

619 said:


> wow i guess you probably go around saying this to all the people that are advertising.Fist of all, if you got nothing good to say, unless your trying to give advice,dont say it at all.Like jeremy said,nobody likes to hear 100% negative feedback.Second,Master_c is advertising,isnt that what this forum is about?So why start an argument saying,"Why should we care-if you havent noticed-were already members of one"?


lmao

did you join just to defend this forum

that's cute


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## Furretsu (Aug 9, 2008)

So! It looks like you're really serious in believing in this forum, and after much thought I figured the side of me that sees the glass half-full will draw it out since it's apparently too much to take in.

I'll start with grammar. Please allow me to take the liberty of suggesting revised forum descriptions.



> These are the rules,read them


"These are the rules; read them." or "These are the rules. Read them." are both much more correct ways to say that, although both sound equally as stupid. What about "The rules are located in this forum; please read them."? Sounds a bit more thought-out. Although having a forum dedicated to a single thread seems pretty stupid; why can't you just throw it elsewhere?



> This forum is for important news and announcements so check for updates.


"This forum is for important news and announcements, so please check [frequently] for updates."

or

"Important news and announcements are located in this forum; please check [frequently] for updates."



> If you have any questions post here.The moderators and I will try our best to answer your question.


"If you have any questions, post them here. The staff will try its best to answer yoru question(s)."



> If you have any ideas or suggestions to help improve our site post here.


(this is very redundant after reading the forum description above)

redudant version:
"If you have any ideas or suggestions to help improve our forum, post here."

non-redundant version:
"Any of your ideas or suggestions for improvement may be posted here for consideration."



> This forum is for any advice you have about pokemon for people to read and discuss


Having the forum labeled as "Advice" is fairly stupid; the "Discussion" part covers it all. May I suggest something along the lines of General Pokémon Discussion? And of course an appropriate forum description to match.



> Challenge and battle other members here


Just needs punctuation. Also, it's "Wi-Fi", not "Wifi."



> This forum is for people that are looking to trade pokemon


Slightly redudant, but fine.

"This forum is for people that are trading their Pokémon." perhaps?



> This forum is for people to make tournaments and rules and number of people in it


So much unnecessary information!

"Create and participate in forum tournaments." covers it all, really; the rules and number of people part belong _inside the forum_.



> This Forum is for serious discussion about battling.Discuss movesets, RMTs (Rate My Team), strategies and combos, and other such things.


Why do you need a forum dedicated to _battling_? You already have a Pokémon discussion board; your forum isn't anywhere near large enough to warrant something like this.

Regardless - "All serious discussion concerning battling - including team rating, strategies, etc. - belongs in this forum."



> This forum is for polls


Yeah, _thanks_. The forum title told me the exact same thing!

"Create and participate in polls here."



> This forum is for pokemon videos only


This has to be the most useless forum ever. It could easily be merged into the other videos forum (although having a forum for videos in the first place is ridiculous).



> Read to find out how to become a gym leader


This doesn't need its own forum, either.



> These are the Gym Leader rules


I guess this is fine, but... this section really needs work. Again, you're just repeating what the forum title already tells me. "All rules and regulations of individual gym leader challenges can be found here.", perhaps.



> These are the elite four rules


See above. This section is baaaad. I'd suggest reorganizing it completely.



> If you're new to the forums, please post here and introduce yourself.Try to keep any discussions in the General discussions though.


The second sentence is needed at all. You have the right idea with the first, though. "If you're new to the forums, please post here and introduce yourself; please leave all in-depth discussion to other forums."



> This forum is for general discussions non-pokemon related.


"This forum is for non-Pokémon related general discussion."



> In this forum you can post any non-pokemon related video, just try not to post alot of videos as it might make this site slow


I laughed. Hard.

See the "Pokémon Videos" forum; these two forums are just completely irrelevant and unneccessary; an Entertainment forum like the one here is probably a much nicer choice.



> Post any pictures or art of your own


"All visual art may be posted here." You could change it around to include not stealing anyone else's art, but I don't like catering to shallow art thieves. Up to you, though.



> Discuss any non-Pokemon Anime / Manga series in this forum.


Again, an Entertainment forum suit this better. As I said once before, your forum just isn't big enough to warrant all of these un-needed, specific boards.



> Post your Friend Code, Gamer Tag or whatever else you use to get connected with here, and arrange to play games online regardless if it's on the Wii, Nintendo DS, XBox 360, PSP, or PlayStation 3.


Yet another useless forum. Why do you want something so specific? A thread would work just as well... and it would fit right in that Entertainment forum I mentioned a few times :)

_also_



> This is an opinion which certinately isn't needed here.


Glad to see my opinion is less valid than the fanboys that joined just to defend your forum.


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## spaekle (Aug 9, 2008)

The best advice I can give and the one thing I can really point out is that music player whateveritis at the top of the page. A great big flash applet isn't really the first thing I'd like to see when I come to a message board. Can you find a better place to put it? Do you really need it at all? How many people on your forum use it? 

Other than that, everyone else has pretty much said it all already.


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## master_c (Aug 9, 2008)

AuroraKing, thanks finally for posting how to improve the forum as well as posting your ''criticism''. I'll get onto it to see that the forum descriptions are changed.

And about user 619, he is a relatively new user on our site also and actually seems to enjoy what we have to offer there.


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## 619 (Aug 13, 2008)

AuroraKing said:


> lmao
> 
> did you join just to defend this forum
> 
> that's cute



I joined to support this forum.The only thing im defending it is from people like you.But seriously,do you go around saying this to all the advertisers here?....


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## Zeph (Aug 13, 2008)

Actually, he wouldn't say it to the advertiser of a site which he likes, I'd assume - in other words a site into which the creator has put every effort possible to make it unique. And I'm not saying that the forum being advertised here _hasn't_ had any effort put into it.


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## Ambipom (Aug 13, 2008)

619 said:


> I joined to support this forum.The only thing im defending it is from people like you.But seriously,do you go around saying this to all the advertisers here?....


Yeah, pretty much.


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## Furretsu (Aug 13, 2008)

619 said:


> I joined to support this forum.The only thing im defending it is from people like you.But seriously,do you go around saying this to all the advertisers here?....


Only if they're something I've already seen a thousand times.


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## Abwayax (Aug 13, 2008)

Why is it that the threads that get the most replies are almost always the generic Pokemon forum ones? Well, except for the fact that the "worst" sites end up being repeatedly pushed to (and kept at) the top of the thread listing, I suppose there's nothing wrong with it

hm, as for the forum itself... looks like you're actually serious about this one, so my best advice would be to just get rid of that Dizzler thing at the top. Flash widgets foisted on visitors = not a good thing most of the time. A unique name would be nice; I imagine "Rayquaza Forum" is already used by at least a dozen other forums (example example example). A better username would be nice too, it smacks of unoriginality to just use a Pokemon name as a username (there are others, too, but they're well-known/important enough to get away with it)


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## 619 (Aug 14, 2008)

AuroraKing said:


> Only if they're something I've already seen a thousand times.


What more can you expect from a pokemon fans forum?


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## Furretsu (Aug 14, 2008)

619 said:


> What more can you expect from a pokemon fans forum?


You answered your own question, buddy.


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## 619 (Aug 14, 2008)

AuroraKing said:


> You answered your own question, buddy.


I am asking you.....buddy


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## Furretsu (Aug 14, 2008)

You are just an undying puddle of bliss, aren't you? <3

Maybe this thread could enlighten you, especially this:


> I really don't care about your forum. At all. If you hadn't noticed, I'm already on at least one. Yours is, in all likelihood, absolutely nothing special, and I have no reason to go there. In fact, I kinda resent that you are trying to direct time away from _this_ forum so some massive group of ten people can accumulate on _yours_ and..  do absolutely nothing they can't already do here.


Generic forums are clogging my internet; established communities are not.


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## 619 (Aug 14, 2008)

Im just continuing the argument you have started.Dont get me wrong,I like doing this,and I can tell you do too.

As for your reply, your just saying what you posted in this topic in the first place,with a little more extent. Again just an _opinion_....


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## OrangeAipom (Aug 14, 2008)

Pokemon forums are about Pokemon.


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## OrangeAipom (Aug 14, 2008)

Khan said:


> I'm Rayquaza. I'm broken.


Let's fix you up, kid.


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## 619 (Aug 17, 2008)

Number 100 said:


> hm, as for the forum itself... looks like you're actually serious about this one, so my best advice would be to just get rid of that Dizzler thing at the top. Flash widgets foisted on visitors = not a good thing most of the time. A unique name would be nice; I imagine "Rayquaza Forum" is already used by at least a dozen other forums (example example example). A better username would be nice too, it smacks of unoriginality to just use a Pokemon name as a username (there are others, too, but they're well-known/important enough to get away with it)


First of all, alot of poeple actually like a flash widget on wich you can hear your fav music,watch videos from youtube, and play games all in one. In my opinion, Its not really that bad, is it?

Second, I guess our forum is the most popular "Rayquaza Forum" out there.....at least more than your examples.....

Third, for an admin, using a pokemon name as a username _is_ original, especially if its the pokemon on wich the forum is about. Last time I checked, _this_ forum's admin's username is "Butterfree"....


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## OrangeAipom (Aug 17, 2008)

619 said:


> Third, for an admin, using a pokemon name as a username _is_ original, especially if its the pokemon on wich the forum is about. Last time I checked, _this_ forum's admin's username is "Butterfree"....


You admit it's a copy. Not original.


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## opaltiger (Aug 17, 2008)

holy shit if you're down to criticising eir _username_ (seriously. let em have what username they want) you have really run out of things to say.


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## Zeph (Aug 17, 2008)

Charteon said:


> Well, all the people who have complained about this widget in this thread are *intelligant* people


I laughed. Sorry.

The site seems... okay, but I think maybe you should try accepting critisism a bit more than you are at the moment. If more people have complained about the flash widget thing than those who like it, maybe the intelligent thing would be to move it? Or just put it somewhere a bit more... out of sight.

Next, the name. And the admin's username. 'Rayquaza Forum' does sound a bit... I dunno, childish somehow, because it's just taking a Pokémon's name and sticking it in front of 'forum'. Most Pokémon forums you see nowadays are similar to that, except the 'forum' part is replaced with a location of some sort, usually home to the Pokémon is question - this is also unoriginal. If you think for a little longer, maybe you'll be able to think of a more suitable, appealing name.

It's perfectly okay for the admin to be called 'Rayquaza' if he/she wants to be; I myself used to be just Castform. It isn't particularly original, but it's your choice. The only problem is that it just seems a little strange to have the site and its admin having virtually the same name.

Now, as for your 'original content'... a lot of popular Pokémon sites have all of those things. 'Gym Leaders and Elite 4' = Wi-Fi league, and rather obviously _any_ remotely established and well-known forum is going to have a reasonably friendly community, otherwise it wouldn't have got anywhere and would have... died.

(PS. I know I've already posted here. Shoot me.)


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## spaekle (Aug 17, 2008)

619 said:


> First of all, alot of poeple actually like a flash widget on wich you can hear your fav music,watch videos from youtube, and play games all in one. In my opinion, Its not really that bad, is it?
> 
> Second, I guess our forum is the most popular "Rayquaza Forum" out there.....at least more than your examples.....
> 
> Third, for an admin, using a pokemon name as a username _is_ original, especially if its the pokemon on wich the forum is about. Last time I checked, _this_ forum's admin's username is "Butterfree"....


Not sure if you'll listen to this, but:

If I wanted to listen to music while on a forum, I'd probably just turn on my iPod.  Just how many people on your forum are making use of that thing? You might want to think about that; run a poll if you have to. If not many people are using it, there's not much point in it being there - and even if people are, there are probably better places to put it than at the very top of the first page people see when coming to your forum. Even the bottom of the page would be better. It's a bit of an eyesore, to be honest.

I don't have much to say on the content, other than that if you're doing a Pokemon site original content is probably one of the hardest (and yet most important!) things to come up with. The most original thing you have going for you now is the EV-training service that somebody else mentioned.

Also if over 9000 other forums have the same name as yours it probably _is_ a good idea to change it. To stand out a bit more, you know? Just saying.


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## 619 (Nov 4, 2008)

Ok so as you can see some of your advice has been taken go here. Its been updated since we advertised it.

We now have about 200 members and 3 open gym leader spots if anyone is interested just join and tryout.Also, were still open to any suggestions so feel free to give advice or suggestions.Thanks for checking our forum.


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## ___urnamz2longfixit___ (Nov 4, 2008)

619 said:


> Ok so as you can see some of your advice has been taken go here. Its been updated since we advertised it.
> 
> We now have about 200 members and 3 open gym leader spots if anyone is interested just join and tryout.Also, were still open to any suggestions so feel free to give advice or suggestions.Thanks for checking our *fourm*.


It's spelled _forum_, kid. You're not gonna get anywhere unless you know what you're advertising.

Anyway, I advise getting a new skin. The green is unsettling and clashing. Also, get rid of that archives board at the end. It makes the rest of the forum look inactive.


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## Pig-serpent (Nov 5, 2008)

I looked at it, and there are 2 things I don't understand.
1- If there are new posts, why does it show a Garratina?
2- My favorite pokemon isn't on the tiers list.


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## Ayame (Nov 6, 2008)

Oh, stop using sock puppets to argue.  It's an awful tactic.  The first two posters are obvious sock puppets.  That's just tacky.


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## Will_Absol (Nov 8, 2008)

Umm Forums don't usually go very far. Not as far as websites.
I dont mind the layout but for a forum with 150 + members,
Wouldn't a better banner be better?


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## 619 (Nov 9, 2008)

Umm idk but forums are fun and last quiet a while if you know how to maintain one...
The site is currently being remodeled(sp?) so you'll see constant changes.I'll tell you when the site is done.


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## Will_Absol (Jan 25, 2009)

Okay then, The only thing I suggest is maybe put the Dizzler at the bottom?


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